Mikey P
Administrator
- Joined
- Oct 6, 2006
- Messages
- 116,981
It’s been about 12 hours since Jim posted the news that Lee has passed, and I’ve been sitting here trying to process the weight of it. I needed to let the dust settle a bit before I could really say what I needed to say.
Most of you know the Pemberton name, but I don’t know if everyone realizes just how deep the roots go, and how ours intermingle. About five years ago, Lee asked me to step in as his shareholder representative for the IICRC. That wasn’t just a title to me; it was a marching order from a General I respected. I’m still holding that post today, trying my best to bring value through the Institute to the people Lee spent his entire life fighting for: the "little guys."
Since the 70s, while the rest of the industry was chasing the big multi-truck franchises and the corporate money, Lee was focused on the one or two-truck owner-operator. He knew that the guy pushing the wand himself was the heartbeat of this trade. He supported us, taught us, and supplied us when nobody else really gave a damn. If you look at what I’ve tried to build with GreenGlides and now The Cleaning Standard, you can see Lee’s fingerprints all over it.
Jim and I have been friends since the early days of Mikey’s Board in 2006. We’ve had our adventures, cleaned Ronald McDonald Houses together, and continue to solve the world’s problems over cheap at coffee at 4AM. But our bond went deeper after November of 2022. Jim lives on the East Coast, which meant he was often the only guy awake to answer my 3:00 AM "Bro Therapy" calls. He guided me through a personal nightmare that he and Lee understood better than most. They knew what it meant to face impossible family and faith situations and have to rebuild your life from the ground up. They knew the cost of integrity, and they helped me pay it.
I often joke—but I’m half serious—that my moral compass is "WWJJD": What Would Jesus and Jim Do? And the truth is, so much of what Jim does comes directly from what Lee installed in him while they worked side-by-side at Pemberton’s Cleaning Supply for decades.
When I asked Jim to join me on The Cleaning Standard project, he told me it gave him shivers. He knew it was exactly what his dad had always wanted to do for the owner-operator. We realized early on that we couldn't do it under the IICRC umbrella—too many politics, too many manufacturers who would try to shut us up for speaking the truth. We had to go rogue to protect the Institute to be honest. I know Lee was incredibly proud of that decision. He knew the score.
Up until less than a week ago, Lee was still at his desk writing articles. He never stopped. We have a vault of hundreds of articles he and Jim wrote over the years—pure gold on chemistry, flooring, and business. One of the greatest honors of this new project is that we are going to repurpose and host that library so Lee’s wisdom doesn't just sit in a drawer; it’s going to teach the next generation.
I’ll be honest, I’ve been feeling lackluster about the upcoming Mikey’s Fest in Kansas City. With everything going on, it felt like just another distraction I didn't have the energy for. But looking at where we are today, I’m thinking we might need to make a change. The Ronald McDonald House was Lee’s favorite charity, too. I ran this by Jim, and I’m thinking we might just rename it "Lee Fest" this year. It feels like the only right way to do it.
Jim has some heartbreak to get through, and we’re going to give him the space he needs. But once the dust clears, we are going to get back to work. We have a legacy to uphold, and I intend to make the Old Man proud.
Rest easy, Lee. We’ve got the watch from here.
Most of you know the Pemberton name, but I don’t know if everyone realizes just how deep the roots go, and how ours intermingle. About five years ago, Lee asked me to step in as his shareholder representative for the IICRC. That wasn’t just a title to me; it was a marching order from a General I respected. I’m still holding that post today, trying my best to bring value through the Institute to the people Lee spent his entire life fighting for: the "little guys."
Since the 70s, while the rest of the industry was chasing the big multi-truck franchises and the corporate money, Lee was focused on the one or two-truck owner-operator. He knew that the guy pushing the wand himself was the heartbeat of this trade. He supported us, taught us, and supplied us when nobody else really gave a damn. If you look at what I’ve tried to build with GreenGlides and now The Cleaning Standard, you can see Lee’s fingerprints all over it.
Jim and I have been friends since the early days of Mikey’s Board in 2006. We’ve had our adventures, cleaned Ronald McDonald Houses together, and continue to solve the world’s problems over cheap at coffee at 4AM. But our bond went deeper after November of 2022. Jim lives on the East Coast, which meant he was often the only guy awake to answer my 3:00 AM "Bro Therapy" calls. He guided me through a personal nightmare that he and Lee understood better than most. They knew what it meant to face impossible family and faith situations and have to rebuild your life from the ground up. They knew the cost of integrity, and they helped me pay it.
I often joke—but I’m half serious—that my moral compass is "WWJJD": What Would Jesus and Jim Do? And the truth is, so much of what Jim does comes directly from what Lee installed in him while they worked side-by-side at Pemberton’s Cleaning Supply for decades.
When I asked Jim to join me on The Cleaning Standard project, he told me it gave him shivers. He knew it was exactly what his dad had always wanted to do for the owner-operator. We realized early on that we couldn't do it under the IICRC umbrella—too many politics, too many manufacturers who would try to shut us up for speaking the truth. We had to go rogue to protect the Institute to be honest. I know Lee was incredibly proud of that decision. He knew the score.
Up until less than a week ago, Lee was still at his desk writing articles. He never stopped. We have a vault of hundreds of articles he and Jim wrote over the years—pure gold on chemistry, flooring, and business. One of the greatest honors of this new project is that we are going to repurpose and host that library so Lee’s wisdom doesn't just sit in a drawer; it’s going to teach the next generation.
I’ll be honest, I’ve been feeling lackluster about the upcoming Mikey’s Fest in Kansas City. With everything going on, it felt like just another distraction I didn't have the energy for. But looking at where we are today, I’m thinking we might need to make a change. The Ronald McDonald House was Lee’s favorite charity, too. I ran this by Jim, and I’m thinking we might just rename it "Lee Fest" this year. It feels like the only right way to do it.
Jim has some heartbreak to get through, and we’re going to give him the space he needs. But once the dust clears, we are going to get back to work. We have a legacy to uphold, and I intend to make the Old Man proud.
Rest easy, Lee. We’ve got the watch from here.
